Standards watchdog marks 30th anniversary of Nolan Committee with report urging continued articulation of value of Seven Principles of Public Life

Successfully implementing the Nolan Principles “requires ongoing investment in maintaining the quality of the wider public culture", according to the author of a report commissioned by the Committee on Standards in Public Life to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Nolan Committee.

In a report titled 'The Nolan Principles: Public Standards, the Public Interest and Public Service', Professor Mark Philp, chair of the committee's Research Advisory Board, also said that thirty years on from their introduction the challenge "now is how to continue articulating their value and meaning for new generations in an increasingly complex world".

The Nolan Committee was established in 1994 following the 'cash for questions' scandal in the House of Commons and issued its first report in May 1995, which coined the Seven Principles of Public Life.

The seven principles - honesty, integrity, objectivity, accountability, selflessness, openness and leadership - have underpinned the Committee on Standards in Public Life reports since then and have also contributed heavily to the standards landscape in the United Kingdom.

Professor Philp's report looked at the definition of public interest in relation to the principles and also considered how the principles are important in organisations operating for the public good.

Commenting on this, he wrote: "For organisations in the public sector this sense of being a part of a common culture that is committed to the public good is a crucial part of their ethical compass.

"Individuals in public office and the organisations they work for should be able to understand their work in relation to the wider fiduciary relationship that they have with the public and should interpret their responsibilities in that light.

"An organisation in the public sector that lacks that sense of its responsibilities as a guiding light for its conduct is less likely to serve the public well, less likely to act with probity, and less likely to offer its members a community in which either they or the public can have confidence."

He also warned that it "seems clear" that the public "does not have much trust in what is driving those in high political office".

He later added: "The responsibilities of public bodies to those they serve must remain front and centre of their concerns and should direct the activities of the organisation and its members to achieve those ends efficiently, in line with the Nolan principles, and with a due regard to its fiduciary responsibilities to the public.

"To this end, public bodies should be committed to fostering their accountability in respect of the implementation of the policies laid down for it by the government, against the background of its wider duty to serve the public.

"Where institutions (or individuals in them) become self-protecting against external (or internal) scrutiny, take steps to shift blame and responsibility, or attempt to cover up its activities, they are violating their responsibilities to act honestly, openly and in an accountable manner, and they are putting the interests of members of the organisation before their responsibilities to serve the public.

"The Nolan principles were developed in part to help steer those in public office in ways that would re-cement trust in public life. They clearly have the potential to do that, but we should understand that as a long-term project that requires ongoing investment in maintaining the quality of the wider public culture and that underlines for new generations the nature of the understanding between those in public office and the wider public they serve."

Adam Carey